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December 23, 2005
Leaping to conclusions
Tuesday night I started seeing the darkness that comes out behind the light before you get depressed. There's a turn of mind under which whatever you perceive confirms what you suspect. I cannot think of the word for it. That turn of mind can lead you down into depression, up into mania, perhaps right into a conspiracy theory.
What is the word for that turn of mind?
A thought occurred to me then. It seemed like conspiracy theories are set up to keep us off the track of the secret organization that really controls everything. But that appeared on closer inspection to be an oversimplification. It had started to become clear I was being led to conclude a conspiracy theory of conspiracy theories by dark forces that had calculated how I would react, aiming to push me into adopting a narrow rationalist view from which the whole truth could not be glimpsed.
Manic and depressive states of mind can take on a topologically equivalent cast, the difference between coffee cups and doughnuts.
Posted by Mark at December 23, 2005 10:53 PM
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